A Righteousness From God
Romans 1:16-17 (p. 1747) July 16, 2017
For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed,
a righteousness that is by faith from first to last . . . .
Romans 1:17
Definitions: salvation = focus on my sin –> focus on God’s wrath
faith = “ wholehearted trust which the Holy Spirit creates in me by the gospel” (HC, #21)
Righteousness . . .
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation
of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.
For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed . . . . Romans 1:1
- Righteousness has always been A SCANDAL
- Righteousness has always been A SUBSTITUTIONARY STORY
- FAITH is how God’s righteousness becomes my ow
Sola fide
. . . just as it is written:“The righteous will live by faith.”
Romans 1:17b (quoting Habakkuk 2:4)
“It is he who is righteous by faith that shall live.”
F.F. Bruce’s paraphrase of Romans 1:17 (Paternoster Press, 1965)
- Luther encountered HIS OWN SIN
- Luther searched for an “ALIEN” RIGHTEOUSNESS
- Luther discovered the GIFT OF FAITH
Semper reformanda
In which of Luther’s three steps to reformation are you?
How have you experienced the power of the gospel to change your life? à “Here I stand . . . .”
A working definition of “the gospel”
Though I am under the righteous condemnation of God,
God in his mercy and grace sent his Son to die on my behalf,
that, in Christ and by faith, God’s righteousness is imputed to me.
(adapted from Ligon Duncan’s “Greetings from an Apostle”)
More study resources for Romans 1
Bob Deffinbaugh’s introduction to Romans at
https://bible.org/seriespage/exploring-riches-book-romans-romans-1-16
Ligon Duncan’s message “Paul’s Good News” at http://www.fpcjackson.org/resourcelibrary/sermons/greetings-from-an-apostle
Kim Riddlebarger’s sermon at http://kimriddlebarger.
squarespace.com/sermons-on-pauls-epistle-to-th/
Sinclair Ferguson’s “The Great Exchanges of Romans” at
http://www.ligonier.org/blog/great-exchanges-romans/
F.F. Bruce’s paraphrase of Romans at https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/eq/1958-2_bruce.pdf or Paternoster Press (1965) and his Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free (Eerdmans, 1977).
Tim Keller’s Romans For You (The Good Book, 2014) studies.
Charles Hodge’s Epistle to the Romans (Eerdmans, 1886).
James Boice’s Romans: An Expositional Commentary (Baker Books, 1991). I especially appreciate his telling of the Martin Luther story, pages 119-126 in Volume 1.
Earl Palmer’s Romans series notes “The Greatest Book”, Winter 2002, University Presbyterian Church, Seattle.